Rohit's heroics keep Hyderabad in the semis hunt

Looking to upset the Deccan Chargers' route to the semi-finals, Kolkata were set to take on the Hyderabad team who were trying to recover from their loss against the Daredevils. Adam Gilchrist won the toss and chose to bowl first. There were three changes in the Hyderabad team with Harmeet Singh, Herschelle Gibbs and Ryan Harris getting a game. Meanwhile, Kolkata finally included the Bangaledesh all-rounder Mashrafe Mortaza in their eleven.

Desperately looking for a good outing, Ganguly joined McCullum at the opening slot. McCullum had a mixed start for Kolkata with some of his hits finding the boundary while there were some mis-timed strokes falling short of the fielders and adding to that was a sharp chance which was put down by Herschelle Gibbs. After hitting a massive six off RP Singh, his luck ran out in the next over when he skied a Harris delivery to Suman.

It was Ganguly's turn next as the left-hander went through some uncomfortable moments in the middle before the strategy break. In a one-of-a-kind incident in the IPL, Adam Gilchrist appealed against Ganguly for obstructing a fielder. However, the batsmen was given not-out much to the dismay of the Hyderabad team. Replays suggested that the batsman had clearly stopped a throw from Venugopal with his hands. There was more to come for the 'Prince of Kolkata' in the 10th over. First, a single taken by him was turned down by the umpire, signalling it a dead ball. Then, he took a hit below his belt off a Ojha delivery. And finally he lost his bat while attempting a single off Ojha's last delivery. Ganguly's out-of-place innings finally came to an end when he holed out to Harris off Rohit Sharma's bowling.

It was a slow outing for Kolkata with the batsmen unable to get the boundaries. When Ganguly was dismissed in the 15th over, Kolkata's score at the end of that over stood at 89/2. David Hussey joined Hodge and the duo started to get things moving at a better pace. They started getting the boundaries regularly, trying to take Kolkata to a respectable score. However, the 32 run partnership came to an end when Hodge was dismissed by Harris, 2 short of his fifty. In an action packed match, Hyderabad had their embarassing moment when RP Singh, after being warned for bowling a beamer, was taken off the attack for dangerous bowling. Meanwhile, Hussey put his foot on the accelerator, dealing in boundaries and sixers. His hard hitting in the 19th over took Kolkata past the 150 mark. Kolkata managed 28 runs off that over. However, after his explosive knock, David Hussey was run-out in the last over. His quick-fire knock of 43 came off just 17 balls and included 2 fours and 4 sixers. Thanks to his innings Kolkata reached a score of 160/5 at the end of 20 overs.

Requiring to score at 8 per over to stay in the semi-final hunt, Gilchrist shouldered the responsibility of taking the Hyderabad team off to an explosive start. He was well assisted by Herschelle Gibbs as the duo scored at a quick rate, taking advantage of the power-play overs. The Bangladesh all-rounder Mortaza was at the receiving end, giving away 26 runs off his first two overs. The pair continued to take toll of the Kolkata bowlers, never allowing them to settle down. They brought up the fifty partnership in just the sixth over as they continued to close in on the required target. Kolkata applied the breaks on the runs with some disciplined bowling effort by the spinners and eventually dismissed Gilchrist in the 10th over when the former Australian wicket-keeper holed out to Shukla off a Brad Hodge delivery. Gilchrist departed after scoring 43 runs off 31 balls.

Hyderabad resumed from the 'Tactical Timeout' requiring 90 runs to win off 60 balls with Gibbs and Suman at the crease. Kolkata got a crucial break-through when Gibbs pulled Murali Karthik straight to David Hussey at mid-wicket. Symonds came in at the fall of the wicket with the responsibility of securing the situation, on his shoulders. While Kolkata went on the offensive trying to get more wickets, Suman lived dangerously playing some streaky shots. Murali Karthik, who pulled things back for Kolkata with his economical bowling, ended with impressive figures of 4-0-12-1. Though it was a determined approach by the Kolkata outfit, their fielding was again below par. This time it was Murali Karthik, who put down Suman off Ishant Sharma.

It was down to the last 4 overs with Hyderabad requiring to score at 12 per over. Leading up to an exciting finish, Suman was run-out in the 17th over after scoring a streaky 31 off 24 balls. Agarkar gave away 14 runs in that over, thanks to a six by Symonds and a boundary by Rohit Sharma. Kolkata hit back in the next over with the crucial wicket of Andrew Symonds. Attempting a quick single, the Australian was found short of the crease. Mortaza maintained a tight line and ended the 18th over, giving away just 7 runs. Hyderabad's chances were looking bleak when Agarkar, matching Mortaza, bowled a tight 19th over giving away just 6 runs.

In a nail biting last over, Mortaza was hit for a boundary off the first ball. To add insult to injury, it was called a no-ball because a fielder was outside the 30 yard circle, much to the fury of the Kolkata team. Two singles were taken off the next two balls bringing the required runs to 14 off 4. Rohit Sharma scored a vital six off the next ball, thanks to a full delivery by Mortaza. After a couple off the next ball, the talented batsman went on to score a boundary and yet another six, scoring 26 runs off the over and finishing off the match for Hyderabad in style. Rohit Sharma remained unbeaten on 32 off just 13 balls with his heroics helping Hyderabad to stay in the hunt for the semi-finals. meanwhile, a dejected Kolkata side was ruing the inclusion of Mortaza after the bowler gave away 58 runs off his quota of 4 overs.

Post Match Quotes:

McCullum: First of all I want to apologize for the actions out there. It was just pure passion and emotion, and something I am not proud of. We are disappointed as a team, we tried our hearts out today and things have not gone our way. We just got to stay positive and confident. We got to keep getting up and come back. I guess the decision will be debated long and hard over a couple of beers over the night and over the next few weeks. But we have got a committed bunch and we are completely dedicated to turning this around.

Gilchrist: I thought we burned another one. Rao was fantastic, he held his nerve and backed himself. Not pleased with the way we are finishing with the ball. Glad to drag 2 points from this one. Their spinners did a very good job. It is a difficult ground to defend on. I thought Symo was the one, but Rohit played some great innings last year and to stand up at the crucial time was very pleasing. All was not lost if we missed out today, we will be back in 12 hours tomorrow and hopefully fresh enough to be up for that.

Rohit Sharma: Definitely there was pressure, but I thought if both of us bat six balls we can get any target. The wicket was coming on nicely. After hitting a boundary of the no-ball, I thought 16 of 6 was gettable on this surface. The bowling is coming out well, and it is clicking and very happy to contribute to the team.

Trivia:

Kolkata scored 28 runs in the 19th over of their innings - making it the most expensive over this season.

RP Singh became the first bowler to taken off from bowling this season after he bowled 2 waist-high full tosses in the 19th over.

David Hussey scored a quickfire 43 off 17 balls - scoring at a phenomenal strike rate of 252.94 - the second highest strike rate in an innings (Min. qualification: 25 runs)

Adam Gilchrist surpassed Matthew Hayden as the leading six-hitter of the tournament. He has hit a total of 23 sixes in IPL 2009.

Mashrafe Mortaza played his first match today but was smashed around, ending up with the worst figures of the tournament, conceding 58 runs in his four overs without taking a wicket.

Kolkata have not won any of their last 10 games, losing their last 8 matches on the trot. (Their match against Chennai was abandoned). This is the worst losing streak in the IPL (both seasons).